


Warmth

by naiadNyx



Category: RWBY
Genre: AU where Beacon never fell and RWBY became huntresses, F/F, Freezing to death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-07
Updated: 2020-04-07
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:07:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23524321
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/naiadNyx/pseuds/naiadNyx
Summary: Weiss had grown up surrounded by the freezing cold of Atlas and the Schnee household, but after meeting Ruby, she had started to warm up. When she almost freezes to death, Weiss realizes that maybe she and Ruby had grown far closer than she had originally thought.
Relationships: Ruby Rose/Weiss Schnee
Comments: 3
Kudos: 136





	Warmth

Cold. So cold. The numb feeling filled Weiss, flooding her mind and stopping her from finding the warmth she desperately craved. Memories of Atlesian winters flashed through her mind in a pale simile to what she was currently experiencing.

It was so cold.

Random bits of survival knowledge slowly filtered through her mind, the information hazy. Frostbite. Hypothermia. Treatments for a teammate who was freezing to death. Nothing concrete, just fading memories passing through. Weiss couldn’t help herself, she would have to rely on someone else. She couldn’t even tell where she was, or what position she was lying down in. Was she curled up? Vague memories of surface area and body heat slipped through her mind, and she tried to curl in on herself even though she couldn’t feel her body to begin with.She needed warmth, heat, a burning fire to chase away the freezing chill that had sunk deep into her bones and core. Heat, fire, red flames that danced around her and caused her cheeks to warm. Thoughts of molten silver filled Weiss’ mind, as if her mind was trying one final effort to drive away the cold. Her last thoughts were of shining silver eyes and a smile that rivaled the sun.

-

Weiss woke up slowly, limb by limb. Her senses slowly awakened. A crackling fire. Roses. A soft heat from her left and a burning pressure on her right. Weiss couldn’t move, and she feared the worst until she heard a sigh far too close to her, a hot breath on her neck, and she realized why. Weiss’ eyes cracked open painfully, still half frozen, and Ruby Rose filled her vision.

Ruby, cute, recently-taller-than-her Ruby, team leader, caring friend, and the best partner Weiss could have asked for.

Ruby, the huntress who was very obviously _snuggled_ into her side. A tight squeeze around her body caused her to look down and realize Ruby was wrapped around her, clinging desperately to Weiss’ body. Memories came back to her, of the mission, of the Grimm, of fighting with Ruby in perfect harmony, until suddenly everything had gone wrong. Weiss taking a direct hit from the Grimm, something that had hurt her pride more than her body thanks to her aura, until she had landed too close to a snowbank and been buried by its weight as piles of snow fell on her.Another breath on her neck, and this time Weiss felt a small brush of something too soft under her jaw, and suddenly the fire and her partner were not the only source of warmth. Weiss’ cheeks and neck burned with a familiar heat, the very same that she felt whenever Ruby shied too close.

A faint murmuring and stirring on her right shoulder, and Weiss shut her eyes immediately, hoping to fool Ruby for long enough to calm down her rampaging heartbeat.

A silence settled on them, and Weiss could only hear the dying fire and her forcibly rhythmic breathing. After a few moments passed, Weiss almost turned to the woman next to her, whether to bring her closer or tell her she was fine and be left alone, she didn’t know. Before her impatience could get the better of her, though, Ruby held her closer, leaving no space between them, and whispered her name. Weiss suddenly felt the exhaustion of everything that had been happening, the botched mission, the near-death experience, the sudden physical closeness of the person she felt the most emotionally close to, and fell back asleep.

-

Things had changed since that day in the snow-covered mountains. When Weiss woke up, usually from nightmares of endless snow and ice, the morning cold felt much more chilling. The Atlesian summer was by no means warm, but it was far from the freezing snowstorm of Atlas’ winters, or the mountain peak she she had nearly died on. Even so, Weiss still felt an irrational chill haunting her every morning.

Ruby had noticed something was off, but she was respectful of Weiss’ boundaries enough to not ask. Her eyes, though, did it for her, whenever Weiss looked into them too early in the morning, too soon after her dreams, the memories of warmth only a few feet away too tempting. Weiss had started feeling a pull, a desire, to experience that warmth again, to bask in Ruby’s body heat, to feel crushed by her weight, and to feel her breathing nearby once more.

-

“You’re starved for affection.” was Blake’s diagnosis, after Blake, excellent interrogator (and friend) she was, had managed to extract the truth from Weiss. Weiss had only answered in a scoff, completely dismissing the thought. Blake had ignored her, continuing, “Just because you’re an Ice Queen doesn’t mean you don’t want someone around. I know you’re not too used to it, but everyone wants to feel loved, Weiss.”

Loved. She had been loved by her sister, and arguably her mother, when she had been sober. But Ruby had been the first person who had made Weiss _feel_ loved. The rest of Team RWBY had helped of course, and her sister had warmed considerably, or at least considerably for a Schnee, but it had all started with Ruby. Her annoying hugs, bothersome hand-holding, and her far-too-close proximity whenever they would use Ruby’s semblance together, a tactic that had grown more common as they matured. All of it had slowly broken down Weiss’ barriers, melted her cold heart until it was able to comfortably bask in Ruby’s warmth.

Weiss realized far too late how addicting such affection could be. How each step Ruby took towards her had become the new normal. How each time Ruby pulled away Weiss had wanted her to pull closer instead.When she had offered Ruby a place to live together, she had given many rational explanations on why. They were partners, it would benefit them in terms of missions and finances, Blake and Yang would probably want their own space, etc. But the one reason that Weiss had held back, the one reason she had tried to hide even from herself, was that she just wanted Ruby closer. And of course, Ruby had agreed, happily at that, while guilt burned in Weiss from hiding ulterior motives she herself did not understand.

-

A week after her discussion with Blake, Weiss felt the biting cold of the late night begin to freeze her toes as she stepped through her house. The house she shared with Ruby. Weiss hesitated in front of the door to her partner’s bedroom, her own only a few steps away. If she were to head to bed now, she would assuredly have another nightmare of a barren tundra bereft of roses, of an achingly lonely white. Her body moved before she could change her mind, hand already turning the doorknob and stepping through.

Ruby looked up from her scroll, and Weiss’ breath caught as the dim light shined unnaturally bright in Ruby’s silver eyes.

“I, um.” Weiss fumbled for words, looking away as she felt herself grow flushed again in Ruby’s presence.

“Can’t sleep?” Weiss nodded, eyes locked on the floor and trying to ignore the burning in her face. She heard some rustling, and looking back up she was met with the sight of Ruby holding the blankets up to leave a space next to her.

Weiss desperately tried to avoid _running_ to Ruby’s bed, though she was sure there was still some amount of desperation in her movements. Ruby’s closeness immediately drove away Weiss’ haunted memories, though she still tried to keep a distance, for propriety’s sake if nothing else.

Weiss felt like she had made a mistake. Barging into her partner’s room, when they were only _friends_ (though Ruby would correct her and say they were besties), and using Ruby like she was a living heater felt so wrong. Yet, try as she might, Weiss could not get up, could not bring herself to willingly distance herself from Ruby.

“‘m glad.” was the murmur Weiss heard next to her, and she turned to face her partner. “Yang and my dad always let me sleep with them when I had nightmares, so,” Ruby fidgeted, broke eye contact. “I was hoping to help you with yours.”

Weiss broke. She couldn’t handle this much warmth, she couldn’t handle this much heat, her heart, frozen from years of neglect and strict Atlesian social graces had left her too unprepared for the raw emotions and want that threatened to overtake her now. Before she could stop herself, she grabbed onto Ruby and pulled her closer, as close as they had been after the mission, almost as close as Weiss felt to Ruby emotionally. Rapid heartbeats filled Weiss’ hearing, and she drifted to sleep as she realized it was Ruby’s heart, beating as fast as her own.

-

In all of her life, Weiss had never been a morning person. Waking up early in the morning when she lived in the Schnee manor just meant the halls were empty and silent, and her feet would freeze on the frozen marble floors. This time, however, Weiss woke up perfectly content, though feeling less warmth than she expected. She flailed around, trying to find something to hold onto, but found nothing. Opening her eyes, she realized she was alone in the bed, a realization that struck her as odd for reasons unknown. Slowly, she began to remember the previous night, the biting cold, the addictive heat.

Weiss got up, fully intending to search for Ruby in the entire house and maybe even the entire neighborhood in her pajamas, when finally her sense of smell woke up and she realized Ruby was making breakfast. Entering the kitchen, Weiss saw Ruby serving two plates of scrambled eggs, too busy finishing up to notice her entrance. Immediately, the aching cold came back, and Weiss stepped over to Ruby and leaned into her, fully giving in to her desires.

“Good morning, princess.” Ruby looked down at her, down because she had grown even taller since Beacon, with her bed hair sticking up and a hand still holding onto the frying pan, and Weiss felt a surge of some emotion she couldn’t quite place nor care to do so in the moment. Quickly, before she could stop herself, she reached up and threaded her fingers through Ruby’s hair, gripping her tightly as she pulled her down, down towards her as she brought their lips together for the first time.

The rattling of the frying pan being dropped onto the stove almost startled Weiss away, but Ruby had let it go to wrap her arms around Weiss’ waist, and suddenly any thoughts of moving away disappeared as Ruby reciprocated the kiss with a yearning hunger. As Weiss pulled away and slowly opened her eyes, she could still feel Ruby’s hot breath on her lips. The cold from earlier had disappeared completely, replaced by Ruby’s hands, Ruby’s breath, Ruby’s lips, and Weiss smiled and leaned into another kiss.

“Good morning.”

**Author's Note:**

> What stage of quarantine/isolation/affection-starvation is it that causes you to write out a fic in two hours straight with no breaks? Because I'm there. It's happening.
> 
> Edit: Went back and edited some grammar mistakes/missing words because it was bothering me


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